The Bush School Seattle: Three Real Entry Doors and a Learn-by-Doing Education

Kindergarten day and fit

The sample day has real structure, plenty of movement, and three recess windows

The current Kindergarten sample begins with choice time at 8:15 a.m. and morning meeting at 8:30. Phonics and literacy come first, followed by recess, snack, and a long math or learning-center block.

Lunch and recess run from 11:00 to 11:45, followed by quiet time. The afternoon rotates among Spanish, art, music, physical education, science or social studies, library, technology, literacy, choice time, and Bush's Mud Park.

Dismissal is 3:15. The school reports two Kindergarten classrooms, 17–18 students per grade-level classroom, and 15 recesses per week across Lower School.

The curriculum is not only play. The official examples connect phonics, literacy, math, identity, science, and community inquiry to hands-on work.

The family question is whether teachers also make skill progress legible when the learning product is a project or conversation.

Bush does not publicly supply its Kindergarten applicant count, visit-day format, readiness rubric, literacy benchmarks, math-screening cadence, or a typical homework policy. Ask for actual progress reports and an anonymized intervention example.

Grade 6 and the Middle School

A new cohort enters a daily advisory rhythm and an experiential program

Bush reports 25–30 new sixth graders each year, while the admission FAQ rounds the planned opening to about 30. The current Middle School has 207 students across Grades 6–8.

Students begin each day with a five-minute advisory check-in. Monday includes a longer 45-minute advisory, and each advisory pairs seven to nine students with one or two faculty members.

A normal week runs from 8:15 to 3:20. Most academic blocks last 60 minutes, with office hours, Town Hall, assembly, class meetings, clubs, lunch, two breaks, and 70-minute elective periods distributed through the week.

Every Middle School student has both visual and performing arts each year. Students also choose among more than 35 electives and take part in E-lectives, a two-week E-week, and wilderness experiences.

The new Center Campus and Middle School building is scheduled to open in Fall 2027. It is planned to include six classrooms, two science labs, a larger Commons, and new learning-support, CEI, and makerspace areas.

That opening date is a school plan, not a guarantee. Ask about construction contingencies, food service, orientation in a new building, and what happens if completion or occupancy approval slips.

Grade 9 and the Upper School

The new ninth grader gets choice, but not a blank schedule

Bush plans about 30 new ninth graders. The current Upper School enrolls about 320 students, and average grade-level classes are reported at 17 students.

Grade 9 requires English 9, Historical Inquiry, mathematics, Biology, and a world language. Students are also advised to begin arts and health or wellness requirements, and every graduate must complete computing, engineering, and design credit.

Ninth graders have a same-grade advisory for the transition year. Students then move into a mixed-grade advisory for Grades 10–12.

Upper School advisory includes eight to ten students and meets for 50 minutes weekly.

Bush does not run an AP or IB curriculum. It designates advanced courses across subjects, offers Global Online Academy, and lets students take related AP exams.

Families should compare actual sequences and prerequisites rather than counting labels.

The school publishes an average of 67 Upper School electives each year and more than 50 student-led clubs. Catalog size does not show which courses run, fill, conflict, or admit first-year students, so ask for the prior year's cancellation and waitlist record.

Ordinary day and workload

The schedule protects work time; the website does not quantify work at home

Upper School runs from 8:20 to 3:15 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday starts at 9:20.

Courses meet for 75 minutes three times in a five-day rotation.

A daily 40-minute Study Hall and Conference period gives students time to work, meet teachers, or collaborate. Community time holds advisory, the Friday meeting, clubs, and collaboration.

Students must take at least five letter-graded courses and can take five or six. Bush's own guide tells students to ask teachers about homework hours and major projects before choosing a schedule.

That advice reveals an important unknown: Bush publishes no nightly homework median, assessment calendar, late-work load, grade-level stress survey, or course-by-course time estimate. A study hall can help without making an ambitious six-course schedule light.

Narrative comments are central to evaluation, while letter grades appear in full-credit Upper School courses. Teachers explain the weight of participation, homework, and assessments in their own syllabi, so the student experience can vary by course.

Use anonymous review sites only to form questions. Niche contains sharply conflicting claims about manageable workload, math differentiation, discipline, belonging, and departures.

Those self-selected accounts cannot establish frequency or current policy.

Learning support and counseling

The support team is visible, and its limits are unusually explicit

Bush has learning specialists and counselors in each division, plus a school wellness coordinator. The public program includes individual, small-group, classroom, and family support, along with referrals to outside providers when needed.

Lower School support includes screening, short-term individual or small-group work, reading intervention, and coordination with tutors, occupational therapists, and speech-language providers. Bush does not say how many cycles a student receives or what triggers outside referral.

The Middle School learning specialist is available during Blazer Block, lunch, breaks, and before or after school. The school explicitly limits this work to short-term intervention in study skills, organization, self-advocacy, executive function, assistive technology, and time management.

Bush provides formal accommodations under its own plan, not public-school IEPs or 504 plans. A qualifying evaluation must be completed by a licensed professional and current within five years.

The school approves only accommodations it considers reasonable and appropriate.

The program provides access without changing curriculum or what a student must master. That makes fit especially important for a child who needs daily remediation, modified content, intensive therapy, or long-term one-to-one support.

Counselors offer social-emotional support, individual help, and crisis response. Public pages do not disclose caseloads, appointment frequency, confidentiality and parent-notice rules, treatment limits, emergency protocols, or continuity when a student needs outside care.

Arts, athletics, and time

The range is real, but serious participation changes the weekly equation

Bush teaches visual arts, music, and theater across divisions. Middle School students take visual art for one quarter each year, while the Upper School uses studios for drawing, painting, photography, digital art, metalsmithing, glass, ceramics, wood, and metal work.

Athletics follows a no-cut philosophy for students who commit to a team. Bush says about 75% of Middle and Upper School students play at least one sport.

Madison Valley and transportation

The campus is central, but bridges and late activities still run the family calendar

Bush is at 3400 East Harrison Street in Madison Valley. The school says students come from more than 60 ZIP codes, with most living in Seattle, Mercer Island, or the inner Eastside.

For 2026–27, six Zūm routes serve the Eastside via SR 520 and I-90, South Seattle near Renton, Magnolia and Queen Anne, northwest Seattle, and northeast Seattle. Morning routes begin around 7:00–7:15 and target an 8:05 arrival; afternoon buses leave at 3:45.

The annual published price is $1,400 for mornings only or $2,250 for morning and afternoon service. Afternoon-only service costs $350 for each two-month interval.

A second enrolled child receives a 50% discount, and tuition-aid percentages also apply to bus cost.

Stops, travel time, routes, and seats can change with demand. The school does not publish exact times for security reasons, and there is no activity bus.

Public transit is possible. King County Metro's Route 11 and RapidRide G serve Madison Valley, but neither source establishes a school-door stop.

Families should walk the last segment and repeat the trip at arrival, dismissal, and evening-activity times.

The new Middle School project adds one more diligence item. Bush says it is managing traffic and parking during construction, but families should confirm the Fall 2027 loading pattern and whether unfinished site work affects the first weeks of school.

Tuition, full cost, and aid

The visible price starts at tuition; the usable family budget does not

Official 2026–27 tuition is $41,835 for K–5, $48,545 for Grades 6–8, and $50,800 for Grades 9–12. These are planning anchors, not Fall 2027 prices.

Adding the current round-trip bus price produces a visible baseline of $44,085 for Kindergarten, $50,795 for Grade 6, and $53,050 for Grade 9. Those sums still exclude any increases and any other family-specific charges.

Lower School Extended Day runs from 3:15 to 6:00 at $32 per afternoon. Middle School Extended Day runs from 3:30 to 6:00 at no charge.

Aid applies to Lower School Extended Day at the family's tuition-aid percentage.

Bush does not publish a complete schedule of lunch, device, trip, E-week, Cascades, arts, athletic, club, testing, graduation, or parent-event costs. The school says aid can cover costs beyond tuition, but it does not publish which items are automatic at each award level.

Bush reports $6 million in annual need-based grants, 21% of students receiving aid, an average award of $35,614, and awards covering 10% to 99% of tuition. Awards range from $5,000 to $50,300.

Admissions and aid decisions are described as independent, but aid availability still affects the outcome. Bush says it offers admission only when it can meet the applicant's aid need; otherwise an admissible child enters the wait pool until both money and a seat are available.

All parents, guardians, stepparents, and remarried partners generally submit financial information. A no-contact parent waiver is possible case by case.

Families reapply annually, and a stable financial situation usually preserves the award percentage rather than a fixed dollar amount.

K, Grade 6, and Grade 9

These are three genuine openings, not three marketing labels

Bush publishes a refreshingly specific intake plan. It typically welcomes 36 new Kindergarten students, approximately 30 new sixth graders, and approximately 30 new ninth graders each year.

Kindergarten applicants must turn five on or before September 1 of the enrollment year. For Fall 2027, that means age five by September 1, 2027.

Outside those doors, opportunity is much thinner. Bush lists zero to two possible places in Grades 1–4 and 7–8, two to four in Grade 5 and Grades 10–11, and none in Grade 12.

Those smaller numbers are not promises. The school says it may not learn about non-entry openings until returning-family re-enrollment ends in February, after the January 14 application deadline.

The live admissions calendar

Upper School families get an earlier decision and a one-week reply window

The Fall 2027 application opens in early September 2026 through Aryval. Bush's application and financial-aid deadline is January 14, 2027.

The Middle School open house is November 7, the Lower School open house is November 14, and the Upper School open house is November 15. Bush also offers in-person and virtual events from October through January, although some require at least a started application.

Upper School decisions arrive February 19 and replies are due February 26. Lower and Middle School decisions arrive March 19 and replies are due March 26.

A seven-day decision window is short. Before results day, ask whether the deposit is refundable, whether an aid appeal pauses the deadline, and how Bush handles a family waiting on another school.

What the school actually asks for

The student visit is the main live interaction the public checklist names

Every division begins with a preliminary application and fee, parent or guardian writing, student voice or essays, records, and teacher evaluations. Older grades also provide an administrator report.

Kindergarten applicants register for a Kindergarten Visit Day. Grade 6 applicants register for a student visit, and every Upper School applicant registers for an Upper School student visit.

The public checklist does not name a required parent interview. Parent and Guardian Preview events include campus tours, while the student-visit format, length, group size, activities, observers, rubric, and feedback policy remain unpublished.

Bush asks applicants to submit their own authentic work and says student forms should not be produced with AI or outside help. Basic proofreading and formatting are allowed.

Parents should protect the child's voice rather than polishing it into adult prose.

The most useful visit question is simple: what is the child being asked to do, and what is the school trying to learn? A Kindergarten play visit, a Grade 6 group activity, and a Grade 9 conversation should not be treated as interchangeable.

Test-flexible, not test-optional

Grades 6 and 9 need a score, but it does not have to be ISEE or SSAT

Bush requires standardized testing for applicants to Grades 5–12. No admission test is required for Kindergarten through Grade 4.

For Fall 2027, applicants may submit a test from the current or previous academic year. The live page lists state assessments, MAP, ERB CTP, STAR, Iowa, WIAT-IV, i-Ready, ISEE, and SSAT, with no preference among them.

Bush hosts the SSAT on October 10, 2026 and the ISEE on October 24. Test fee waivers are available after a family shares financial information with the aid office.

A stale conflict is worth noticing. The admissions FAQ still describes older eligible testing years, while the dedicated application page lists 2026–27 and 2025–26.

Use the application page as the stronger current signal and confirm in writing before relying on an older score.

Bush publishes no score ranges, weighting, superscoring rule, testing deadline, or admission-testing accommodation process. A flexible list of tests does not tell families how differently the committee reads them.